Pokemon: The Calm Before
by Drahjan
Summary: One door closes, another opens. What does happen after Ash hangs up his pack? Rated T, because I'd rather be safe than sorry.


Pokemon: The Calm Before

Chapter 0: Canon Timeline- The Road Thus Far

 _ **Striker's Notes: Hello my loyal viewers of the Pokemon Fandom! Well, at least those of you who take the Pokemon world as seriously as I do. I am NickStriker, I have posted a story here in this part of FanFiction around a year and a half ago, but it hasn't gotten any attention at this point in time. So I decided to write a second one while I wait for the polls for it to get more votes.**_

 _ **You may be wondering why this is called Chapter 0 and what is canon. Well, this is actually going off of my own studies of the Pokemon games and anime. Some may say this is a theory of my own design, but this is far from your typical theory that you can disprove with just a few bits of information and rants from younger Pokemon fans. Once you have read Chapter 0, you will understand that I am correct.**_

 _ **Now what am I rambling about? Why, the Pokemon timeline, of course. Every game, episode, movie, and even certain parts of the manga are part of the same timeline, and even the same universe. Of course, there are certain aspects that don't fit perfectly into the canon timeline, but that really doen't matter once your jaws hit the floor. Let's begin.**_

 **TRIGGER WARNING:** _ **This story will make anyone who pairs Ash with May, Dawn, Iris, Serena, or any male character, rage. If you don't like hearing the truth, please leave. Otherwise, sit back, grab some snacks, and enjoy the chapter.**_

 **1\. Ash returns to Kanto.** _We all know Ash is only 10 in the anime and coming home is inevitable. No matter how many more regions they have him go to before he turns 11, he will eventually come home to rest. And here's how I believe it will play out:_

30 year old Delia Ketchum and her Mr. Mime were having a nice quiet day of house cleaning in their home in Pallet Town when the front door suddenly opened. "Mime?" Mr. Mime questioned as he and Delia turned to the sound of the door.  
Seconds later, a familiar face walked into the kitchen, where Delia and Mr. Mime were at. Well, it was actually two familiar faces. "Hi mom." 10 year old Ash said as he entered the kitchen with Pikachu on his shoulder.  
"Pika!" The electric mouse squeaked, waving at Ash's mother.  
"Mime, mime mime!" Mr. Mime greeted cheerfully.  
"Welcome home honey. How was your journey?" Delia said as she walked up to her little boy and gave him a hug.  
"A few bumps and bruises, but nothing I couldn't handle." Ash said confidently.  
Delia smiled before releasing Ash. "Well I hope you're hungry, because dinner's almost ready."  
"Chaa!" Pikachu squeaked happily.

Later that night, Ash was practicing one of the abilities he discovered while on his journey, his ability to sense and manipulate aura. During his journey through Hoenn, he encountered a Pokemon named Lucario who told Ash he had an aura like that of his previous master, Sit Aaron, an Aura Guardian. Ever since, Ash has tried to hone his aura abilities, in case he needed to use them again.  
Ash currently had his eyes closed, using his aura sense to view what was around him. Next to him, Pikachu slept soundly, his tiny body giving off a blue light in Ash's mind. Just in the other room, Delia's aura could be seen laying in her bed. In the living room, Mr. Mime was asleep on the couch. Ash chuckled as he saw the auras of Jessie, James, and Meowth sleeping in the grass outside. Just a few miles away, atop a large hill, was Professor Oak's lab; and inside were the auras of Tracey, Gary, and Oak himself. Ash made a mental note to visit them in the morning, if his mother didn't already notify them about his arrival of course. Soon, Ash decided to finally go to sleep.

In the morning, Ash awoke to the sound of voices from another room. Using his aura, the young man "saw" the auras of many people gathered in not only the living room, but outside as well. ' _That's odd._ ' Ash thought as he opened his eyes. ' _Did everyone plan a party for me while I was gone?_ '  
Ash got out of bed, quickly got dressed in his black shirt , blue vest, and his lucky white and red hat with the green triangular emblem. As he got dressed, Pikachu awoke with a yawn, showing his gleaming white fangs. "Piika?" Pikachu asked, a bit drowsy.  
"Show time bud. Mom invited some guests." Ash replied.  
"Pi?" The mouse asked.  
"Don't know. I haven't recognized their aura yet." Ash replied, guessing his partner was asking who was invited.  
Pikachu stretched out for a second giving out a, "Chaa!" before standing up. "Pika. Chu pi."  
"Probably. Cilan said he saw him when we were still in Unova. So Brock was most likely there for some exotic ingredients for some new Pokemon food." Ash said as he tightened his belt.  
"Chu chu. Piiiikaa?" Pikachu teased.  
This time, Ash knew exactly who his friend was talking about. "Oh I can only imagine what Misty will say." He said. "After she knocks me upside the head for not talking to her before leaving again."  
Pikachu then waged a toe on one of his front paws at Ash, as if to shame the trainer. "Pika. Pikachu." He said.  
Ash narrowed his eyes at his partner. "Let's just see what all this is about." He said as he straightened his old cap.  
Pikachu leapt onto Ash's shoulder before the two went downstairs to see what exactly was going on.

As the two descended the stairs, the voices turned to whispers before being silenced all together. The two friends looked at each other, confused by this. "Mom? Is everything okay?" Ash asked as he came to the bottom of the stairs.  
Ash did not get an answer until he rounded to corner into the living room, where he saw his mom, Professor Oak, Gary, one of Gary's cheerleaders, Tracey, Brock, Brock's siblings, Daisy, Lily, Violet, Lance, Clair, Max, May, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, and many more. Ash blinked at the sight. After a few seconds, the large group shouted in a not-so-perfect unison, "Happy Birthday Ash!"  
It took Ash a minute to realize that he forgot his own birthday, May 22. "That's today! You guys! Thank you!" He cheered.  
The group laughed as a familiar voice came from beside him. "Hope that's the only thing you forgot."  
Ash turned and saw the unforgettable, bright orange hair of Misty. Pikachu squeaked joyfully at the sight of her. "Misty?"  
Misty huffed in annoyance. "Good, you remembered. It's been a while since we last saw each other."  
Ash rubbed the back of he head. "Yeah, sorry about that." He said nervously.  
"Pika. Chu Pi." Pikachu sighed.  
"You're such a kid Ash." Iris said from the crowd.  
"How about you two kiss later," Lance said bluntly, causing Ash and Misty to stiffen. "We have a hero's party that won't celebrate itself."  
Ash turned to the rest of the group as he relaxed. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's party!" He shouted, causing the crowd to cheer.

As the party progressed, Ash and Misty played a bit of catch-up. "Aura Guardian? You? Ash, that's a terrible joke." Misty said when Ash explained his adventures in Hoenn.  
"I didn't believe it myself. But once I helped Lucario save the tree, I was able to summon the power of aura in my hands. Granted, I could have died if Lurcario didn't knock me away."  
Misty was still in disbelief. "Okay, you want me to prove it? Fine." Ash said before sticking his hands out in front of him.  
Within a few seconds, a small sphere of blue energy form in the space between his hands. This caused Misty to gasp as her eyes widened. The orb disappeared and Ash put his arms to his sides. "See?" He asked.  
Misty nodded before gesturing for him to continue. "Okay, well after Lucario knocked me away from Mew, he put way too much of his aura into it, so he died after the tree was saved. Fortunately, he was able to reunite with Sir Aaron." Ash said with a sigh. "It was a sad moment for all of us."  
Misty sighed as well. "Well, at least everyone was happy in the end." She said. "And that was not as bad as what happened at Shamouti Island. Or when we met Mewtwo. Twice.  
Ash smiled. "Yeah, though I actually met a second Mewtwo while in Kalos."  
Misty was a bit frightened. "It didn't try to comit genocide, did it?"  
Ash chuckled. "Nah, she just scowled at us while trying to protect the Pokemon in the city."  
"That's a relief. I couldn't imagine going through that again." Misty said. "The first time was terrifying enough as it was."  
"No kidding." Ash replied as Jessie, James, and Meowth walked up to them, though they were wearing reporters outfits.  
"Hello, I'm the amazing and fabulous J-" Jessie began.  
Ash sighed, "Could you not start this right now Team Rocket?" He said, surprising the thieves. "Look, I don't know how your obvious disguises were able to fool us for this past year, but today's my birthday. I don't feel like having you three blast off or sing your moto. So just enjoy the party. You guys could use a bit of relaxation after sleeping in the yard last night."  
Misty snickered. "Even I have admit, Ash is right. Weren't you guys broke when we had to deal with you last?"  
Team Rocket sighed. "The twerps are right." Jessie said in defeat.  
"And we skipped all three meals yesterday too." Meowth said as he took off his disguise.  
"Pika. Pikachu." Pikachu said, shacking his head.

With Team Rocket chowing down on whatever food had been provided, Ash and Misty continued with their conversation. "And of course with my sisters' performances, I'm stuck at the gym. At least some of the trainers that come by know how to battle." Misty said before taking a sip of her drink.  
"Does that mean we won't be seeing any more of Misty the mermaid?" Ash asked, causing Misty to glare at him.  
"Watch it Ash." She said.  
"What? I liked seeing you in that costume." Ash replied, surprising the gym leader.  
"Really?" Misty asked.  
Ash nodded. A faint blush appears on Misty's check's as she turns her head away from him slightly. "Thanks Ash."

 _ **Okay, this is where I drew a blank. So instead of continuing with Ash's party, I'm going to skip a fews years to show the next point. This part will be mostly an explanation, but more of the story will take place afterwards.**_

 **2\. Enter, Trainer Red.** _I can see the reviews now. "Red is an Alternate Universe version of Ash you idiot!" "Red is the son of Ash and Serena! Ship! Ship! Ship!" First, no. Ash and Red are in the same universe. Well, at least one version of Red is. ProtoMario has a video on this. If you want to watch it to try to find evidence to prove me and him wrong, the title is "What Happened To Blue's Blastoise in Pokemon Sun and Moon"._

 _In this video, Proto suggests that the Red and Blue in these games are from Pokemon Yellow. Which makes sense. Red gets his Pikachu, gains the Region's starters through his journey, gets an Eevee that later evolves into Espeon so he can have a better chance at weakening Mew when or if he ever finds it, gets his Lapras and a Snorlax. "You idiot! You can't have seven pokemon in your party!" Let me finish. He uses Espeon in gen 2 when he's searching for Mew. After that, he swaps Espeon out for his Lapras. For the rest of his journey, he uses Pikachu, Charzard, Blastoise, Venasaur, Lapras, and Snorlax._

 _Now, how do I know they are in the same universe? The games and Pokemon Origins gives us a few points to work with. "But you just said," Don't start. I said a few, not that all of it fits into the canon. The most important one being Pallet Town. In the main Anime, Pallet has very little inhabitants that are spread out every five or six miles. On top of this, Oak's lab is at the top of a large hill. Again, his lab is on top of a large hill. Oak is lucky that he is able to get to his lab on his bike alone. This helps with my claim. Oak's age will start to take its toll. So he would want to move his lab closer to his house._

 _Also, in Origins, Pallet is much bigger than in the main series. Making it set in the future. But why would Pallet Town grow? Most likely, so that some people can have a some lame claim to fame. Not everyone can say they live in the hometown of the person who saved the world. So that's most likely why Red's parents lived there. I have a third point, but that will be saved for later._

 _Secondly, the Ships known as Pokeshipping and Rocketshipping are canon. Rocketshipping is something I don't need to explain, the evidence is as clear as day. Though the same could be said for the main Pokemon Ship, some of you still don't get it. Out of all of Ash's female companions, Misty was with him for the longest. We know that Misty has feelings for Ash by the end of Episode 2, though it's not exactly obvious to Ash or most viewers. Heck, I didn't even notice until later. Many characters have even told Ash and Misty that they act like a couple. Each time, the two in question take a look at each other, think about it, then shout at the person who accused them of acting as such. Typical actions for the parties in a ship. But we also see that Ash may like Misty in a similar manner; don't ask for specific episodes, I had a hard enough time putting this together. More on this in a bit._

 _As for you young ones who are out of the loop, Serena might be Red's mom, but I highly doubt it. She would be way too busy with her showcases to do much else. And Ash is definitely not the father. I will first use Origins' interpretation of Misty as evidence as well as sprites from the games. Compared to the main anime, Origins' Misty is older and more mature. Similar comparisons can be made with the sprites. I'll go in deeper later when I explain how the second generation fits into this._

 _Alright, I'm sure you're tired of me rambling. Back to the story:_

It was a bright sunny day in Pallet Town as a eightteen-year-old Ash stood up straight with a groan. He was currently wearing a white sleeveless shirt, a pair of jeans, and a hard hat. Sweat covered his forehead and stained his shirt.  
"Hey Ash!" A gruff man said, causing the boy to turn. "Take five would ya? Your girlfriend's been waiting for the past half hour."  
Ash staggered back a bit. "She's not my girlfriend!" He hollered at him, causing the other man to laugh.  
"Just take five. Oak's lab can still be built without you right on top of things." The man said.  
Ash smiled and jumped down from the building's frame, using a small amount of aura to safely land. He then jogged down the road, passing by a few new houses. He then saw Misty sitting on a bench in the center of town with a basket in her hands. "Hey Misty. What are you doing here?" Ash asked, getting the gymleader's attention.  
"About time. I've been waiting forever Mr. Pokemon Master." Misty said as she stood up.  
"Well, you didn't have to come." Ash jabbed back.  
"Well, I did." Misty snapped.  
There was a few moments of silence. "Man, we really do act like a couple." Ash stated, causing Misty to blush a bit.  
She then huffed and turned her head away from Ash. "Yeah, well, we aren't. We're just friends."  
"Well, why don't we be one?" Ash asked, rather loudly, surprising Misty.  
Misty turned to Ash, his face redder than the rest of him now. "Did... I... just hear you right?" She asked.  
Ash slowly nodded. "Misty, will you-"  
"Yes!" Misty said, cutting him off.  
Now both of them were blushing furiously. Neither could figure out what to say or do. "Well finally! Took you two long enough." The voice of Gary Oak said from behind Ash.  
The two turned to see Gary standing just a few feet away. "Just a few more years and we just might see some little Ashy-boys running around." Gary teased, causing the two teens to steam with embarrassment.  
"Gary!" They shouted before Misty began to chase the Oak down, the man in question who was now running for his life.  
Ash sighed. "This is going to be an interesting adventure." He said as he chased after Gary and his new girlfriend.

 _ **I'm just a sucker for this Ship. I think I need to implement Rocketshipping in here. But how? I'll figure it out. After another year or so, Red comes into play and this is how I think Ash will react to it and Red taking out Team Rocket.**_

Twenty-year-old Ash walked into his new home in Pallet with an unexpected surprise awaiting him. "Pika!" Pikachu shouted as he jumped at Ash, who was carrying a bag of groceries.  
"Ah! Pikachu! Careful. I have ketchup in one of these!" He then caught the most peculiar smell he ever laid his noise on. "Wait, is someone cooking?"  
Ash saw that Pikachu looked a bit worried. "Don't tell me another girl broke in." Ash said.

Being the person who saved the world on multiple accounts, many fans have developed for the black haired hero. Most of which have actually wanted a piece of him. For example, one day, after a date with Misty, the two decided to go back to his place and watch a movie. They walked through the door to find rose petals on the floor, leading to Ash's bedroom where a young woman, about two years older than the couple, was sitting on his bed, wearing nothing but one of his jackets and the cap he wore while in Sinnoh. She girl was surprised to see that Ash and Misty were actually a couple and in the room with her, together, but then proposed that she and Misty share Ash. The man in question bolted before Misty knocked the intruder unconscious with a single punch. Ash called the police before any further damage could be done. Once the girl was taken to the hospital, Ash burned the hat and jacket and the couple decided to not watch any romantic comedies that night.

Now, Ash walked up to the kitchen entrance, only to see a familiar trio shuffling about. "James! What are you doing? You're going to burn it!" Jessie hissed as she stirred something in a pot as James watched the oven.  
"Sorry Jess. I'm still trying to recover from Pikachu's Electro Ball. That really knocked the air out of me."  
"Well someone else is going to be knocked out of ya if we don't make nice with..." Meowth said before he saw Ash in the entry way, "The twirp's back!"  
The other two then jolted, looking at Ash with a bit of worry. Ash just looked confused. "Team Rocket? What are you doing here? In my house?" He asked, slowly and calmly.  
The trio gave nervous laughs. "Well, you see..." Meowth started to explain.

Jessie, James, Meowth, Ash, and Pikachu sat at Ash's small dining table eating the food the first three prepared. "So," Ash said as he chewed a mouthful of spaghetti, "Team Rocket had made another Mewtwo, it escaped. Giovanni then tried to get his hands on Ghost-Types, a Master Ball, among other things, and failed because of a ten-year-old with a Pikachu of his own. And you three are here because your boss is now nowhere to be found. But the remainder of Team Rocket is planning on trying to get Giovanni back by continuing their plans for a different region." He then swallowed. "Am I understanding that right?"  
Team Rocket nodded. "We have a feeling Team Rocket is going to slowly fall apart. So we are going to be on vacation until we can figure out how to deal with the broken gang." Jessie said before slurping down some noodles.  
"And my place is not an option, because Jessebelle is still trying to force me to marry her." James said. "Which I can't do that, because I already proposed to Jessie."  
Ash and Pikachu blinked at this for a moment, both having food in their mouth. They then chocked it down before responding. "Congratulations!"  
"Pika, pika!"  
Jessie and James gave soft smiles. "Thanks Ash." Jessie said.  
"But the main question now is," Ash said as he settled down. "Why did you decide to come to me?"  
The trio looked at each other for a minute before looking at Ash. "Like we said, we have no place to go. And with James unable to go to his parents without being forced out of our proposal and into a marriage with that brat, we were close to being out of options." Jessie stated.  
Ash nodded. "So you were hoping that I would allow you to stay here until you got on your feet." He said, earning nods from the trio. "Why don't you just have Jessie disguise herself as Jessebelle?"  
"We considered that, but if she did that, I would be too frightened of her to even speak to her." James stated.  
"I mean, disguise as Jessebelle and call off the arranged marriage. She is the only one that technically has a say in the matter. So if Jessie is dressed up like her long enough to call off the marriage, you two are free to not only get married without too much to worry about. But you also get your money from your parents to support you three for as long as you need." Ash explained.  
The three looked at each other once again, then back at Ash. "We didn't think of that." Jessie and James commented.

 _ **Hey, look, I did it. Now I don't have enough space for this chapter to go into details of how the three complete this, but I can always put it in its own story if you guys would like. Let's get to the next point.**_

 **3\. Rising Champion, Trainer Gold-** _Now we're at the juicy bit. I can now explain the major point that drives this tale home. Gen 2; Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver. Some great games. But did you know that there was never any plans for a third generation until the Pokemon Company figured they could make more money off of it? If you watch Pokemon Theorists like Protomario or Gnoggin, you have probably heard this already. And who is with Ash while he's in Johto? Misty. So what would have happened if they did end it at two generations? Well, the final episodes for Johto would have been a bit different, that's for sure. "We don't care! Why are the Gen 2 games important!" Well, for a few reasons actually. The first is actually Gold's rival, Silver. During the Celebi event in the remakes, it is revealed that Giovanni is Silver's father. "Great job, we know this. Why are you bringing this up?" Back to Sprite comparisons. By comparing Giovanni from the Anime to himself in the games, we can see that he's a tad older, much like Misty. So at some point in the anime, Giovanni went to Johto and married whoever he was lucky enough to get. After going back to Team Rocket, Silver was born. Old pops here does try to be a father to young Silver, but his gang tended to come first. This is why Silver hates Team Rocket in the games, like we find out in the event._

 _Now for my second point, the two towers, Brass and Bell. The one I will cover first is the Brass Tower, or as we know it, the Burned Tower. Originally, it was the Bell Tower, but due to a freak incident, it was burned down to three floors, as seen in the anime. In the games, however, there is only one floor and a basement. This would be due to more of the tower falling apart over the years, so not much is left from Ash, Misty, and Brock's adventure inside. There was a new Bell Tower built, hoping that Ho-oh would come back. But it didn't, until the events in the games came into play. "But, the legendary beasts were seen outside the Brass Tower in the anime! What are you thinking?" Well, for starters, they were tired of being cooped up in the tower, so they went exploring across Johto. The Tower is technically their home, so they return to it whenever they want. At least, until some random human finds out where they live._

 _Final point, and that is how I am going to start the next piece of this chapter. When Gold goes to Cerulean City, the gym is locked. Weird, right? Let's begin:_

Ash collapses onto the soft grass next to Misty. "This is great." He said, "Just me, and you, and nothing to bother us from this relaxing day." Today, he decided not to wear his hat, so his messy black hair splayed out on the grass.  
Misty gave a sigh and laid down next to him. "Yeah. I locked the gym for today, so nobody will be able to just barge in demanding a battle. Today is going to be perfect." She said before turn to face Ash and wrap her arm around him.  
Ash chuckled at his girlfriend "Good, wouldn't want anything unexpected to happen on our anniversary."  
Misty smirked. "Oh, so you actually remembered?" She asked slyly.  
"How could I forget the day I asked you to be my girlfriend?" Ash asked.  
"I don't know, but you can be forgetful, so I wouldn't be surprised if you did." The gym leader replied.  
"Hey," Ash replied, laughing at her a bit. "I don't forget that much."  
"Yes you do." Misty chimed.  
"When was the most recent time I forgot something?" Ash asked as he turned to face Misty, smiling proudly.  
"How about last week, when you forgot to lock the door to your house. We found that a couple had went in and-" Misty said as she went into detail of the event, only for Ash to silence her with a kiss.  
When Ash broke the kiss, Misty giggled. "Cheater." She said.  
"I said when, not what happened." Ash said to her as he wrapped his arms around her and drew her close.  
"Mmm... But I usually need to explain myself to you in order to get my point across." Misty replied.  
"Yes, but that event must not be mentioned, ever again." Ash said before kissing Misty's forehead.  
Ash then saw something in the distance. A boy wearing a black and yellow striped hat and a red jacket was looking at them. "Shoot, sorry Mist, gotta scat." Ash said as he quickly got up and bolted.  
Behind him, Ash could hear Misty shouting at the intruder. "Awww! Why did you have to show up and bug us now? Do you know what they call people like you? Pests!" He was too far to hear the rest of the ranting.

Later that day, Misty sat on her diving board in the gym, bummed out. Ash and Pikachu came in and saw the bad mood she was in. "Hey! You hungry?" Ash called, getting Misty's attention.  
Misty turned and gave a small smile. "I thought you'd never ask!" She called back before standing up and climbing down.  
When she came over, Misty draped her arms over Ash's shoulders and behind his neck. Ash wrapped his arms around Misty and gave her a kiss. "Sorry our date was ruined." He said to her.  
Misty sighed. "It's fine. Let's just pick up where we left off."  
"Well, I was just going to have a relaxing day with you, but I had to improvise. So I took the liberty of pulling a few stops sooner to cheer you up." Ash said.  
"Hmm. I like the sound of that." Misty said to him.  
"Pikachu." Pikachu said as the two walked to the other room.  
When the two entered the room, Misty gasped when she saw that it was filled with the other seven gym leaders, the elite four, Misty's sisters, Professor Oak, Gary, Delia, and a few others. "Ash? What is all th-" Misty asked as she turned, but stopped herself when she saw Ash on one knee.  
"Misty. I know this is a few years over due and we've known each other for a long time." He then stopped, forgetting his next line. "You know what? I'm gonna skip to the good part." Ash then pulled out a diamond ring, with the diamond surrounded in turquoise gemstones. "Misty, will you marry me?"  
Misty had her hands over her mouth when she saw the ring. "Yes! Yes you stupid idiot! I will marry you!" She said, full of excitement.

 _ **So, how did I do? I hoped you liked the start of this new series. And I wish to hear whatever ideas you have for future chapters. Until then.**_


End file.
